On-Time Delivery? Not Likely for Obese Mothers-To-Be

(Ivanhoe Newswire) – According to the results of new Swedish study, women who are overweight or obese during pregnancy have a higher risk of preterm delivery, meaning a liveborn infant is delivered before 37 gestational weeks. Such an early delivery can cause long-term disability in the infant and is the leading cause of infant mortality and neonatal morbidity.

Gathering information from more than 1.5 million deliveries in Sweden, researchers categorized the pregnant women into weight groups and also classified preterm deliveries into three groups: extremely (22-27 weeks), very (28-31 weeks), and moderately (32-36 weeks.) Obese women’s rates of extremely preterm delivery were 0.2 to 0.3% higher than normal-weight women, suggesting that maintaining a healthy weight during pregnancy is crucial for the infant’s health.